Improving Shared Parental Leave and adoption rights

The Government has launched a consultation which proposes extending the rights that women on maternity leave have to those returning from adoption or shared parental leave.

Jane van Zyl, CEO of Working Families, said: “Because more and more parents are sharing care equally, we welcome plans to ensure equal treatment for parents returning from Shared Parental Leave or adoption – bringing their rights in line with those enjoyed by women on maternity leave.”

Extending redundancy rights for returning mothers

The Government is also proposing to extend the legal protection period against being made redundant on maternity leave to six months after they return to work.

This follows research which found that one in nine women said they had lost their jobs when they returned to work after maternity leave, or felt forced out by bad treatment. The research also found that around 54,000 women a year could lose their jobs due to pregnancy or maternity.

Rosalind Bragg from Maternity Action welcomed the proposal, but also pointed out the need for the Government to extend the rights on redundancy to agency workers and others in precarious work as well as to ensure they start from the moment a woman declares she is pregnant.

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